Cowboys hooker Reuben Cotter nabs spot in Kangaroos' rugby league world cup squad

Jarred Cross Published October 3, 2022 at 12.00pm (AWST)

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North Queensland hooker Reuben Cotter has capped off a breakout season to claim his place in the Kangaroos squad headed for the rugby league world cup this month.

The 23-year-old Boigu Island man slots into the 24 man team as one of 13 debutants to the national side headed to England for the tournament.

It follows his first selection in Queenslands State of Origin side earlier in 2022 and dual appearances in the Indigenous All Stars team since 2021.

The squad boasts a healthy balance of inclusion from the NRL's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stats with Josh Addo-Carr, Jack Wighton and Latrell Mitchell joining Cotter in the set-up.

It makes for a 17 percent representation of Indigenous players in the Kangaroos team compared to the 12 percent in the wider competition.

It marks a return to representative football for Canterbury winger Addo-Carr after missing out on New South Wales State of Origin honours this year.

He, Mitchell and Wighton all return to the green and gold after featuring in Australia's last International matches before COVID19 interruptions.

The major surprise comes with the exclusion of Dally M medallist and Wiradjuri man Nicho Hynes.

The 26-year-old swept the awards on Wednesday night walking away as player of the year and named at halfback in the Dally M side after wrapping up Cronulla's Porter Gallen medal count on top the week prior.

Hynes has been named as a standby for the world cup.

Kangaroo's coach Mal Meninga congratulated those who made the cut.

"We have an extremely healthy mix of incumbent players as well as a number of players who are yet to represent their country," Meninga said.

"We will have players who have performed on this stage before.

"Many of these players have produced form when it counts in both State of Origin and also in the Finals Series.

"The balance of the squad is extremely strong and will hopefully produce the results we're after over the duration of the tournament."

Australia plays their first match against Fiji on October 15.

FULL KANGAROOS SQUAD

Josh Addo-Carr (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)

Matt Burton (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)

Reagan Campbell-Gillard (Parramatta Eels)

Patrick Carrigan (Brisbane Broncos)